The autonomous driving technology company is now testing its Robotaxi services in China in a total of four cities with an ODD of around 482.8km2

ponyai

A self-driving car from Pony.ai in Shenzhen. (Credit: Business Wire)

Pony.ai has commenced testing of autonomous driving on public roads in Shenzhen, having secured a permit to carry out road tests in the south-eastern Chinese city.

Following the addition of Shenzhen, the autonomous driving technology company is now testing its Robotaxi services in China in a total of four cities with an operational design domain (ODD) of around 482.8km2.

Pony.ai co-founder and CEO James Peng said: “The successful autonomous driving tests will pave the way for Pony.ai to introduce Robotaxi and other technologies in Shenzhen.”

The company is hoping to launch the Robotaxi services in Shenzhen for the general public early next year.

Including Shenzhen, the autonomous driving technology firm has so far launched autonomous driving tests or service operations in seven cities in China and the US. Besides, it is one of the first two companies to have started autonomous driving tests in all four of the Tier-1 cities of China.

The company had also tested an autonomous truck on a Beijing express this month.

Last month, the company secured approval to operate paid autonomous Robotaxi services in the Beijing Intelligent Networked Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone in Beijing. The approval allows Pony.ai to charge fees from the public for availing its Robotaxi services.

Recently, the company had also entered into a partnership with GAC’s ride-hailing app ONTIME with an aim to expedite commercial deployment of autonomous driving technologies in China at a larger scale.

Earlier this year, the company secured $100m in an extension of its Series C round at a valuation of $5.3bn. Founded in 2016, the firm is backed by major investors such as Toyota, Sequoia Capital China, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and IDG Capital.